By Park Si-sooThe number of foreign students studying at South Korean universities increased by a record 18.8 percent last year, data showed Monday. A total of 123,858 foreigners were studying here as of April, the latest data available, up 20,000 from April 2016, with 72,032 in diploma courses and the others in non-diploma programs, according to the National Institute for International Education. The increase reflects the increasing demand for degrees from Korean universities and above all the heightened reputation of their holders, specialists say. Chinese made up the biggest potion (68,184 or 55.1 percent. Vietnamese came second with 14,614 or 11.8 percent, followed by Mongolian (5,384 or 4.3 percent), Japanese (3,828 or 3 percent), American (2,767 or 2.2 percent), Uzbekistan (2,767 or 2.2 percent), Taiwanese (2,195 or 1.8 percent) French (1,344 or 1.1 percent), Indonesian (1,334 or 1.1 percent) and Malaysian (1 percent or 1 percent). Nearly 58 percent were enrolled in universities in Seoul and neighboring Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, followed by Chucheong province (13.8 percent), Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongsang province (9.7 percent), Gangwon province, Daegu, North Gyeongsang province (9.5 percent) and Jeju and Jeolla province (9.3 percent). About 36 percent of those in doctorate courses were majoring in engineering, 34 percent in humanities or social science, 18 percent in natural science, 8 percent in arts or sports and 4 percent in medical science. Unlike doctoral candidates, most of those studying for a master's degree were majoring in humanities or social science (71 percent). Only 14 percent were majoring in engineering, 7 percent in natural science, 7 percent in arts or sports and 1 percent in medical science.This trend also applied to bachelor's degree candidates, with 69 percent studying humanities or social science.